[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 31, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      THE DEATH OF JAMES P. GRANT

                                 ______


                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 31, 1995
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, the world lost a great humanitarian this 
past weekend with the death of my dear friend, Jim Grant.
  For the past 15 years, Jim served with distinction and compassion as 
the Executive Director of UNICEF. He was a man who loved all of the 
world's children and a man who made a significant difference. Jim Grant 
epitomized the dedicated international public servant, but no one ever 
called him a bureaucrat. Rather, he was a visionary leader who used all 
the tools available to promote worthy causes.
  Jim Grant was a field-oriented person. No project was too remote to 
escape Jim's interest. Traveling with Jim in Africa meant spending a 
lot of time in off-road vehicles to see how well health programs were 
reaching remote villages.
  Jim Grant was a promoter in the best sense of the word. Whether he 
was promoting expanded immunization programs, oral rehydration, or 
breastfeeding, or whether he was enlisting another celebrity as a 
UNICEF goodwill ambassador, Jim Grant always used his flair for 
publicity for good causes.
  Jim Grant had the capacity to influence world leaders to focus on the 
topic he cared most about--the state of the world's children. Perhaps 
his most satisfying accomplishment was the 1990 World Summit for 
Children and one of his greatest disappointments was that he did not 
see his own Government ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child 
during his lifetime.
  Probably no tribute to Jim Grant's life is more appropriate than to 
lay out the following statistics: During his tenure as Executive 
Director of UNICEF, immunization levels in the developing world have 
risen from about 20 percent in 1980 to almost 80 percent today. During 
that same period, the number of polio victims has fallen from 500,000 a 
year to fewer than 100,000.
  Jim Grant was an American hero and a world treasure. His presence 
will be greatly missed, but his work and the good works of UNICEF will 
remain a legacy of his persistence and humanity.


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